Hidden in the shadow beneath her bed, Yuffie focused on her breathing, trying her hardest to keep her mind blank.
…Thinking was bad.
Her ears twitched and turned, listening for any stray sounds outside her room. Her fur was ruffled and messy, her body stiff from not moving. Idly her tail flicked every now and then.
It was late afternoon. The skies were a dark gray and the cabin was generally quiet. Everyone was resting from the night before. Everyone…except Mikau, that is.
He came down the stairs, the steps creaking with his weight. Yuffie heard him, and she raised her head off the floor, her breath catching in her throat.
But the man didn't enter her room. He only swept on into the kitchen, and opened the cupboards, taking out a pot. A bag of ramen soon joined it, and Mikau set to work, making soup.
Anxious, but curious, Yuffie crept to the edge of the bed, her head nearly poking out from beneath it.
Soon, the smell of chicken soup was wafting through the air, and the cat girl's mouth began to water. She hadn't eaten all day, just hid under the bed, too afraid to come out and pad around in her new form. She could hear the chink of plates, and her tail immediately rose in interest.
Creeping out from her hiding place, Yuffie peeked out the door, sniffing tentatively. Mikau was ladling the soup into a bowl. The aroma luring the cat girl closer, she didn't think to be afraid. She was too hungry…
When she jumped up onto the counter, Mikau neither flinched nor looked up at her.
He had already poured her a bowl of her own.
Leaning against the counter, he silently began to eat.
Yuffie watched him warily for a moment, half afraid he would suddenly jump at her, before she finally grew impatient and just began to lap at the soup.
A comfortable silence commenced between the two, both content with simply just having their meals and not ruining it with forced words. Mikau wasn't a man to talk, and Yuffie didn't want to talk. Sitting there, it was the first time either had really spent time together.
Glancing at Yuffie, Mikau watched as she lapped the last of the broth, some of it dribbling down her chin. She glanced up at him, as if remembering she was supposed to be afraid.
"Done?" he asked simply.
She didn't answer right away.
Yuffie glanced down at her bowl and nodded once slowly. "…Yeah, I'm done."
She winced at her own voice, which was higher and a bit raspy from the change her vocal chords went through.
Mikau took her plate and began to wash it along with his own. Yuffie watched him, sitting back on her hind legs, her tail swishing side to side.
"…Despite what you're probably thinking, I'm not going to bite your head off."
The man didn't look up at her, just continued washing the plates. Frowning, she answered, "Why would I think that?"
Mikau shrugged as he began to rinse the suds away. "Because you keep staring at me like I'm going to…"
Yuffie licked her lips unconsciously.
He gave her a sidelong glance, "We've allowed ourselves to trust in you. It'd be nice if you could give us that same respect."
After he finished drying the plates, he put them away calmly and walked out of the kitchen, heading back up to his room. Yuffie stared after him, her tail lying limp across the counter.
She didn't move.
--
Like a thick sea, the shadow of night seemed to cloak the interior of the cabin, splashing dark in the corners and painting haunting images across the floors. The moonlight was explicably absent, leaving Yuffie's room feeling cold and unwelcoming.
Sitting on her bed, the cat girl thought silently to her self, the last words Mikau had said to her echoing over and over in her mind.
She dug her claws into the sheets, suddenly feeling angry.
"Who's he to tell me anything? The guy punched me in the head the first time I came here and has been nothing but 'Mr. Anti-social' ever since…geez, if anything, I should be the one telling him off!" but the anger quickly faded, and Yuffie's rant died on her lips.
Her stomach clenched with guilt and she laid herself gingerly on the bed.
She thought about Beatrix and how hurt the girl had sounded when she had hissed at her. Then she began to think of all the time she spent with the pack of werewolves, how they had quickly accepted and trusted her.
…But then Mikau's face flashed in her mind, outlined by the glow of the moon as he began to transform into his true shape…
Friends.
Monsters.
Yuffie shut her eyes.
"This sucks…" she mumbled.
If she had a gil for every time she was un-decisive about something, she'd be filthy rich by now. Big, emotional decisions like these weren't easy for her by any means. If anything, they were her weakest points. That was why she was here, now, and not back in Wutai, with her father.
No one had ever told Yuffie Kisaragi that life would be easy.
But at the same time…no one had ever told her life would be so hard.
Lasting insecurities forever embodied.
That was life.
Jumping off the bed, the cat girl padded out of her room, her tail hanging low behind her. She was trudging through a thick sea of shadows, and as she turned into the hallway, where the darkest of the shadows lurked, she could feel a disturbance in the air, blowing softly against her fur. Tensing, she stopped, and her ears perked up, listening…
Something sliced through the air, and Yuffie jumped back reflexively, hearing the dull thud as something hit the floor before her. Squinting her eyes, she could see the faint outline of what looked simply to be a shadow, but it moved, it's flat head turning to look at her, and her fur stood on end as she let out a loud hiss.
The creature, whatever it was, hissed back, and it jumped at her again. But this time, Yuffie jumped up into the air rather than back, landing on the thing's back as she came down, pinning it to the ground. Digging her claws into its semi-transparent flesh, Yuffie tensed, and with a shout, charged a stream of electrical energy into its body.
Light washed the walls as the creature screeched, thrashing beneath her. She hung on fiercely, sending another wave into it before leaping off its back. She turned and watched as the thing writhed on the floor, the electrical currents running along the length of its body. It was flat and resembled a manta ray, with a square head and a long tail. A mouth lined with teeth flapped repeatedly like a fish, as the thing died, the light dying with it.
Lip curling, Yuffie gave a low hiss.
Upstairs, she heard Beatrix shriek in surprise. …Or was that Ern?
"They're attacking!! Dear Artemis, they've come to kill us all!"
Ern. Most definitely.
Yuffie bound up the stairs, her eyes sharp and alert. These…things could come out of nowhere, and with the dark of the cabin, the cat girl no longer took comfort in its cover.
It was a double-edged sword. The darkness was both her most trusted friend and most despised enemy.
Pain shot through her as something smashed into her side, ramming her into the wall. Thrashing, Yuffie shrieked and struggled to push her attacker away, but the beast didn't budge. Straining, she turned in time to see its mouth bite down into her shoulder.
White-hot pain. Terrible. Unbearable.
There was a snarl and in the next instant, the creature was knocked away, a large, furry silhouette standing over it. Raising a clenched fist, whoever it was beat it savagely, the monster screaming in anguish. More creatures came from the shadows on the walls, hissing, and the person fought them savagely, dark blood splattering the walls as they slashed and swung wildly, blindly. Yuffie, her breathing shallow, watched with half-closed eyes as her savior continued to fight, the onslaught of the shadow creatures seemingly endless.
Her fur was matted with blood, and there were deep gash marks on her shoulder.
Listlessly, she registered the scent of strawberries and incest and smiled weakly.
"Beatrix…"
Another tall dark figure came from Julius and Ern's room, but the cat-girl couldn't tell who was standing there, because they were in their wolf form. They tried desperately to fend off the shadow creatures, which were now practically covering Beatrix, while at the same time trying to keep the creatures from entering the room. Inside, she could faintly hear the sound of Ern whimpering pathetically, and she became annoyed. "Coward," she spat, "Just sitting on his ass and doing nothing…"
At this thought, Yuffie fought to stand, but the pain was too great and her limb to weak to support her. Every time she only fell back to the ground.
Beatrix was yelping, fighting more and more desperately. She thrashed and growled, snapping, biting, clawing at the shadow creatures that bit and beat her. Julius, the one who was obviously trying to help, soon became overrun himself. Another door banged open, this time Mikau flying out, also in his wolf form. He hit the guard railing, breaking the wood and causing it to fall back. He slashed back at the creatures on him, and in the room he came from, Yuffie could see Taerk fighting as well. With so many in such a confined space, it was quickly becoming clear that space was running out.
Meridian's door rattled, and he could be heard snarling inside, fighting off his own enemies.
They were being outnumbered.
Beatrix stumbled back after a particularly nasty hit, and, narrowly missing stepping on Yuffie, she crashed down the stairs, taking the shadow creatures with her. Seeing this, the cat girl doubled her efforts, panic beginning to rise in her throat as she looked down at Beatrix's prone figure at the end of the stairs.
Was her neck broken? Was she knocked out? The shadow creatures, they were still there with her…
Adrenaline surged through her veins, and Yuffie felt the pain in her limb fade as a sudden fierce power rose in her. It was a familiar feeling, one that she welcomed eagerly.
Her limit break.
Stumbling to her four paws, Yuffie's eyes glowed brightly until they were white with energy, her body also began to glow, and the walls were once again washed in her light. Currents ran through her body and, her body stiffening, Yuffie bowed her head, tail lashing violently. The fighting momentarily stopped as everyone looked to see her. The shadow creatures let out ear-splitting shrieks, and they flew off in different directions in a panic.
Small body shaking, Yuffie growled, "Kisamas…."
Muscles bunching she sprang into the air and immediately everything slowed down. Her body tingled, and Yuffie became pure energy, zapping toward a shadow creature, slicing through its body, before materializing again on it's other side. She hit the floor and ricocheting, she sprang toward another shadow creature that was gliding through the air.
For the lycans watching, things went by much more quickly as Yuffie bounced from floor to wall to ceiling in mind-blowing high-speeds, slicing through the creatures like butter. When most of the monsters were left on the floor, writhing, their insides practically turned into soup, the cat girl finally came to a stop, landing somewhat ungracefully on the floor again. The energy died away as she stood panting.
Quickly following up, Julius used the left over light emanating from the dead creatures carcasses to kill the last of the wraiths that tried in vain to hide in the corners.
Limping, Yuffie slowly passed the others, who were killing off the remaining monsters, and descended down the stairs stopping at Beatrix's side.
The girl was lying in a pile of dead shadow carcasses. She was in her lycan form, her pajamas ripped and stretched. Nose quivering, her half-closed eyes gazed wearily up at Yuffie, who collapsed down at her side.
Still panting, she gazed back at Beatrix.
"You gonna be alright?" she asked, "They didn't break anything did they?"
Beatrix's furry face pushed up into a shaky, but fierce smile. Slowly she shook her head.
Yuffie nodded in relief, her eyes slipping shut. Tail flicking, she whispered, "I told you…they didn't call me the Greased Lightning for nothing."
And with that, consciousness left her.
--
Vincent Valentine crashed through the under brush, his face glistening with sweat as he ran, full tilt, through the forest. A strange and foreign feeling was pounding in him, grabbing his heart and twisting it ruthlessly. Seldom had he ever felt this emotion, and never again did he wish to experience it.
Fear.
Running through the dark of the forest, that was what kept him going, the stink of the feeling keeping his mind alert. Coming to a clearing, he went along the edge, creeping slightly as if trying not to wake a sleeping child. Eyes darting, he glanced at the trees with mistrust, his teeth bared in feral intensity.
…Had he lost them?
As if in answer to his question, there was a shout and his head snapped around in time to see a small black creature leap from the shadows. He tensed and twisted around, raising his arms to fend the thing off, but it hit him hard, and he fell back onto the grass, the creature on top of him.
Vincent snarled, reaching up to strangle the thing's neck when it's small hands caught his wrists, and as if handling a child, it pinned him to the floor. Eyes widening a fraction, Vincent tried to free himself, but to his horror, he found he couldn't move. Reluctantly, he examined the creature in detail.
It had pitch-black skin with large bat like ears. Wild, flaming orange hair blew haphazardly in the wind, falling into its large golden-yellow eyes. Horns sprouted from its forehead, and its fangs gleamed menacingly. The creature was only four feet high, and with a lance strapped to it's back, it looked a little ridiculous. But now, pinned down by this devil-thing…
…Vincent found none of it amusing.
Others like it began to emerge from the trees, grinning and whooping in delight.
The creature leaned in, and hissed, its ears wiggling gleefully.
"…Found you."
----
A/N: This was a really short chapter, but with a lot happening in it. The last chapter was the quiet before the storm so to speak.
Vincent makes his first appearance in the story, and his situation isn't in the least bit small. I'm going to have fun with this…oh yes I am…
Fight scenes are always a bit of a challenge to write. Tell me whether or not this one was decent, because, of course, I wouldn't know.
Summer has been a bit of a drag so far. Nothing real 'wow' has happened to me yet. At the moment, I seem to have more reasons to be depressed and moody than bright and cheerful. That was part of the reason I took longer to update. I just didn't have it in me these past few days.
That scene with Yuffie and her limit break was my crappy attempt at putting her Greased Lightning attack in words. Somehow, I really don't think I did the move justice…
I swear…I keep thinking I have something to say, but either I don't or I forget.
Well…anyways. The next update will most likely be very soon. If that isn't the case, then just remember:
I'm still alive.
Thanks for reading, please leave a review.